Round
Two CD
by Big George Brock
Coming soon. In stores August 8, 2006. CD Release Party at Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Ms on Saturday, August 12. Stores: contact Burnside Distribution. Radio/media: contact Cat Head Presents.
Round Two features all-new originals like "So Long" and "Mattson, Miss." plus a handful of well-chosen blues covers. Special guest: guitarist Hubert Sumlin of the Howlin' Wolf band. Also featured: Bill Abel, Levan Lortkipanidze, Ben Wells, Lightnin' Malcolm... and of course, 74-year-old Big George Brock. Recorded "live" in Mississippi at Electric Catfish Studio on May 12 and 13, using Jimbo Mathus' vintage mics and plenty of other great gear. Engineer/mixer: Justin Showah. Producer: Roger Stolle. Cover photo below: Brandy Kayzakian-Rowe. CD intro and bonus track: "Call Me A Lover" recorded solo on front porch at Cat Head store by Damien Blaylock.
ROUND TWO CD TRACK LISTING:
1. Intro (Brock)
2. So Long (Brock)
3. No No Baby (Brock)
4. Poor Boy (Burnett)
5. Rockin' Chair (Brock)
6. Mattson, Miss. (Brock)
7. Mr. Wal-Mart (Brock)
8. Shake For Me (Dixon)
9. Arkansas To Memphis (Brock)
10. Round Two (Brock)
11. Sugar Mama (Williamson I)
12. Burden Down (Trad., arr. Brock)
BONUS TRACK:
Call Me A Lover, solo (Brock)
All songs written by Big George Brock unless noted. Publishing information:
Songs #4 and #11 Arc Music Corp.; #8 Bug Music.
Big George Brock, vocal and harmonica
Bill Abel, guitar
Levan Lortkipanidze, keyboard
Ben Wells, drums
Lightnin' Malcolm, bass (4, 7, 11-13), drums (5) and guitar (9)
Special guest: Hubert Sumlin, lead guitar (tracks 2 & 8)
Producer: Roger Stolle
Engineer: Justin Showah
Mixing: Justin Showah
Mastering: Michael Burkey
Recorded "live" with no overdubs on May 12 and 13, 2006 at
Electric Catfish
Studio in Oxford, Mississippi using Jimbo Mathus' vintage mics. Big
George
Brock played Hohner harmonicas. Hubert Sumlin played vintage Gibson
gear.
LINER NOTES:
Today, there are more blues festivals than at any other time in the
history
of the world. Not surprisingly, there are plenty of excellent blues
players
available to perform at them. But how many bluesmen are left? You know,
the real deal. The genuine article. Big-voiced blues veterans who came
up the
hard way in a time before rock music — when picking cotton was
the only
work and dinner meant black-eyed peas. Well, the days when blues was
pop music and bluesmen were heroes have sadly passed, but there are
still
a few of those real-deal men (and women) out there. Big George Brock
is
just such a man. Sharecropper, boxer, club owner and, through it all,
an
honest-to-Muddy bluesman. From the cotton fields to the bright lights,
big city, Brock has done it all. And he's seen many a "round two."
He's faced
personal and professional ups and downs but never given up. Even today,
with all the aches and pains of old age, the blues still lift him up.
On May 12, 2006 — exactly one year and five days after he recorded
his
Club Caravan album — Big George Brock returned to a Mississippi
studio to
lay down tracks for a much anticipated follow-up CD. In those 370 days,
a lot
happened in Brock's world. In August 2005, he took part in Mississippi
Public
Broadcasting's Native Sons concert film project (since re-named Mississippi
Bluesmen). In October, Steven Seagal tapped Brock to blow harp on the
actor-musician's all-star blues album, Mojo Priest. In November, the
Blues
Foundation announced Brock's "Comeback of the Year" Blues
Music Award
nomination — a designation soon followed by several "year
end" top CD lists
and even a Living Blues Award nomination. By the first day of January
2006,
Brock's own story in words and music had been captured on film, and
on
May 8, 2006, his story was released nationally on a DVD entitled Hard
Times.
And so, joined by his old friend, Howlin' Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin,
and
a contingent of talented Mississippi musicians, Brock returned to his
native
Magnolia state to record the CD, Round Two. Brock and Sumlin hadn't
spent
time together since Sumlin's days with Wolf, so the atmosphere was electric.
The result? 66 years after the 74-year-old first picked up a harmonica,
Brock
proves he is still in fighting form and ready for round two. Songs like
the title
track and "Brought Me From Arkansas" pull details from his
own life while
carefully chosen covers like "Poor Boy" and "Burden Down"
harken back to
the songs he heard in his youth. (The opening monologue and closing
solo
performance come from Brock's Hard Times DVD sessions. The former was
recorded in a Clarksdale cotton field near the old Hopson Plantation.
The
latter was recorded on the front porch of Cat Head Delta Blues &
Folk Art.)
The night before the start of these sessions, Brock performed at the
Blues
Music Awards in Memphis. He hit the stage wearing a big, shiny cape
over
his always-stunning suit. By the end of the song, he was rolling around
on
the floor blowing harp as two dozen photographers pressed against the
stage. The night after the Round Two sessions, Brock performed with
guitar
legend Hubert Sumlin at world-famous Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale.
The two days in-between held moments of pure magic. With any luck, some
of that magic made it onto the thin plastic disk you now hold. —
Roger Stolle
Bookings and media information:
roger@cathead.biz • www.cathead.biz
662-624-5992 • 314-531-9207
Also check out Big George's current sights and sounds:
• "Club Caravan"
CD (2006 Blues Music Award nominee)
• "Hard Times" DVD
("Strongly recommended." -- Blues & Rhythm)